July 16, 2021

As a child in the 1980s, I remember seeing commercials for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). As the clever acronym suggests, these moms were mad. They were mad that family members were being killed by drunk drivers. They were mad that laws to prevent these tragedies didn’t exist. And they were mad that no one was doing anything about it.

Anger can often be misguided, but in this case, it was exactly what was needed. The organization is largely credited with changing the mindset of an entire generation when it comes to driving while intoxicated. They were mad, they did something about it, and it worked.

Today, in the midst of the current culture wars about race and racism, a lot of moms are mad again. They are mad about what is happening in our schools and to our children. I happen to be one of the “mad moms” who hate to see what the culture war over race and racism is doing to the education of our children.

Why are we mad?

We are mad because our children are being taught that who they are as individuals, and the choices they make about how to treat others, matter less than the color of their skin.

We are mad because, while many of us have taught our children to respect and value difference not just when it comes to race, culture, and religion but also when it comes to different points of view, children are now being taught to shun viewpoint diversity and embrace closed-mindedness. They are told, emphatically, that anything short of parroting and performing the empty slogans disseminated by a small but aggressive group of activists renders them nothing short of racists.

I have been mad since last November, when my 8-year-old son’s private school in Hollywood brought in an “anti-bias” facilitator—first to train teachers, and then parents, in how to be “anti-racist.” In the parent session, antisemitism was given a pass and white parents (some of whom have non-white spouses and biracial children) were forced in some cases to admit that they contribute to racism by living in neighborhoods that are more than 50% white. Reciting the simplistic equation of racism coined by Ibram X. Kendi, the facilitator told white parents they are either “racists or anti-racists.” I still wonder what this meant to the many biracial parents in the session.

In the teachers’ session, a preschool teacher suggested that regularly sharing stories about people of different races and religions with young children was a great way to teach them to value difference. In response, the facilitator disparaged literature as “low-hanging fruit,” as too easy and not powerful enough. Instead, confrontational rhetoric about “white fragility,” anti-racism, defunding the police, and how “silence is violence” is the preferred way to handle the issue. The problem is that these one-sided slogans do more to divide than to bring children together. They reinforce racial difference and resentment and promote the very racial divide they purport to fight, although I am growing less and less convinced that the political activists pushing this toxic rhetoric are actually interested in racial healing. Perhaps, in fact, they want the opposite.

The problem is that these one-sided slogans do more to divide than to bring children together.

As both a mother and former professor of literature, I’m mad that my child’s teachers are being told that literature has little influence. There is nothing more powerful than story when it comes to teaching empathy, to exposing children to people who don’t look like them, and to giving young minds tools to think through issues in critical and nuanced ways. But perhaps that’s why the facilitator warned against it. She wants political obedience, not free thinking. Activism now comes before academics at many schools. I’m mad about that.

I’m mad that each time I write about this issue, parents and teachers reach out to tell me they agree, but that they can’t publicly say so. I’m not mad at these people; I’m mad at the Soviet-style doublethink culture that makes them feel as if they have to publicly agree with things they despise.

I’m mad that ideologically charged issues are now the backbone of many educational institutions, which are no longer bastions of critical thought and learning, having fallen prey to the indoctrination of identity politics.

I’m mad that ideologically charged issues are now the backbone of many educational institutions, which are no longer bastions of critical thought and learning, having fallen prey to the indoctrination of identity politics.

And I’m mad because while many of us understand that racism still exists and we must teach our children the complicated history of racism in America, we also believe that here, in America—unlike so many other places—most everyone is capable of living a life that transcends race and religion. Yes, we still have plenty of work to do in order to ensure that the playing field is more level, and we should all be committed to that work. But the new dogma tells children that the U.S. is a place where opportunities exist only for white people and that every part of our society operates as a conspiracy to subvert the ability of racial minorities to succeed (they never explain how it can be possible that Asians are by far the most successful racial group in America). And never mind the countless Black heterodox voices pushing back against these ideas.

Most parents—Black, white, Asian, Latino, Jewish, etc.—encourage their children by telling them that here, in America, you can be anything you want to be. But the new narrative is, for children of color, that you can’t get ahead because there are systems in place to prevent you from achieving your dreams. No matter how hard you work, they claim, you will never get out from under the structures of white supremacy that are designed, precisely, to crush you. Where is the audacity of hope in that?

Ironically, this pessimistic stance is taken primarily by white progressives, who tend to be “more left wing than Black and Hispanic Democrats on pretty much every issue,” including and especially when it comes to “racial issues or various measures of ‘racial resentment.’” This may explain why non-white voters are trending away from the Democratic Party.

But that doesn’t stop groups of predominately white progressives from telling racial minorities what is best for them. It doesn’t stop them from obliterating opportunities that have the potential to elevate non-white communities.

The idea that merit-based programs are racist, and that they should be expunged from academic institutions in order to fight racism, is an extension of this logic. Merit is racist, and therefore the standards must be lowered. But what about immigrant and non-white people who have, as Angel Eduardo says, been “fighting like hell for centuries to be seen as equal,” people who have fought their way into gifted and honors programs, or highly-selective universities and academic institutions, and who deserve to be evaluated on the merit of their work? Behind many of the students in these programs are immigrant parents who sacrificed everything to give their children the opportunities offered in America, who taught their children to work hard so that they could earn a spot in one of these programs. And now we are telling them that their hard work and their success are racist; that their sacrifices merely serve the institutional racism endemic to American society. Asian American families in particular are targeted by these racist policies.

It’s time to attack the outrageous and offensive canard that anyone who pushes back against this “anti-racist” indoctrination is secretly a racist. It’s time to recognize these attacks for what they are: an attempt to intimidate people into silence and manipulatively exploit their desire to be seen as good people.

It’s time to attack the outrageous and offensive canard that anyone who pushes back against this “anti-racist” indoctrination is secretly a racist.

But in a world where virtue signaling and proving we are “woke” or progressive is more important than actually doing the real work of improving communities and bringing them together, the billion-dollar Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion industry is the quick fix for everything, even though it rarely fixes anything.

Finally, I’m mad because I have worked hard to teach my son to love and respect others, to value differences, and treat people as individuals, not as members of groups. I have worked hard to teach him that we are all human beings who want the same things, who dream the same dreams. I’ve worked hard to teach him to be the child who stands up and speaks out when he sees injustices being committed against others.

I’m mad because none of that seems to matter anymore. He is simply reduced to his skin color.

Recently my son heard two of his closest friends (who are biracial) referred to as Black. He was shocked. “Are you sure?” he said. “But they’re just like me.”

“They’re just like me.” Isn’t that what we fought for in the civil rights movement? That all people be seen equally? But this is the newly racialized America—a place where the dreams of black and brown children can be hijacked by a political movement that needs them to see themselves as inferior, and most chillingly, that is invested in their failure, just as it tells white children that no matter what they do, they will always be seen as the oppressor.

That is not the way to equality, and it’s worth being mad about. And if the backlash of “mad moms” across the country continues to grow, I certainly won’t be mad about that.

Monica Osborne is Executive Editor at the Jewish Journal. She is a former professor of literature, critical theory, and Jewish Studies, and is the author of “The Midrashic Impulse and the Contemporary Literary Response to Trauma.” Follow her on Twitter @DrMonicaOsborne

One of the great appeals of attending a political demonstration is the youthful energy of the cause. Generation Z takes pride in taking to the streets for social justice—certainly not a new phenomenon. Throughout American history, the proteins of young DNA have been idealism, progressivism and rebellion against authority. But there is one cause that, although positioned as confronting evil in the pursuit of good, draws fewer college students than a Jimmy Buffett concert. The fight against antisemitism skews dramatically toward older Americans.

Last Sunday, several Jewish organizations sponsored a rally in Washington D.C. in response to the wave of hatred that crashed on American shores this summer. I had the privilege of speaking at this event, aptly titled the #NoFearRally, and was inspired to hear from victims of knife attacks, Jews attacked in restaurants by mobs of anti-Israel protestors, ex-white supremacists, and children of Holocaust survivors. The call to action on this very hot day was clear: We must combat the burgeoning virus of Jew-hatred in the United States, manifested across the political spectrum, in synagogues and on subway cars, its perpetrators stratifying all categories of race, religion and creed.

But in peering over the glass podium while presenting my speech, I saw what I usually see at Jewish gatherings. My parents’ and grandparents’ generations were represented thousands strong, accompanied by only a few hundred young faces. What does it mean that attendees of a rally in support of Jews are part of a completely different age demographic than those at rallies in support of immigrants, action on climate change, or reproductive freedom?

What does it mean that attendees of a rally in support of Jews are part of a completely different age demographic than those at rallies in support of immigrants, action on climate change, or reproductive freedom?

Here, some left-wing readers will smirk and indict my words for proving a point. This rally, as is the case with many rallies against antisemitism, was explicitly Zionist. And because it was so Zionist, young people, who are growing more hostile to Israel by the second, were repelled like vampires before garlic. I’m bracing myself for the hypothesis that if only this event had welcomed anti-Zionist organizations, and if only it had platformed speakers who are steadfast in their belief that white supremacy is the only pressing threat to American Jews, more young people would have ransacked CVS for posterboard.

As a young person myself, I call bulls–t.

The lack of interest in fighting antisemitism among young people isn’t about Zionism or Israel. Pray tell, where are the great rallies against Jew hatred by anti-Zionist organizations? There aren’t any, unless of course they can be woven into some universalist narrative exclusively against white nationalism. No, this isn’t about Israel. This is about the cultural framing of the Jewish experience as a right-wing issue.

If we are portrayed as the epitome of wealth, privilege, success and whiteness, our needs become right-wing needs, our safety a right-wing ploy to increase police presence, our homeland a right-wing bastion. It is therefore acceptable to undermine, trivialize and demonize all of these things, and it is therefore problematic to defend any of these things. Jewish particularism is an annoying insect that buzzes around progressivism, demanding much needed attention, but swatted away, because how could it possibly be that we, who defy the binary of who is oppressed and who is oppressive, deserve allyship?

Jewish particularism is an annoying insect that buzzes around progressivism, demanding much needed attention, but swatted away, because how could it possibly be that we, who defy the binary of who is oppressed and who is oppressive, deserve allyship?

Ask any Jewish college student what happens when they raise charges of antisemitism in a progressive space, regardless of whether the charges concern Israel. They will lose friends, acquaintances and opportunities. Our stories are not included in the now infamous diversity and inclusion trainings, or in the intersectional rhapsodies condemning bigotry and racism. That is not, and has never been, a coincidence.

I’m drawn to a recent anonymous submission to the Twitter account “Organizer Memes,” which provides commentary on young, left-wing activist circles. A student writes: “I shared memories of painful antisemitic experiences among a carefully selected group of friends and acquaintances I’ve made in the organizing space, over the least half decade, uncertain of how this information would be received.” And then: “There was a noticeable negative shift in how some people interact(ed) with people now that they knew I’m Jewish. Three people that I communicated with semi-regularly and who are involved in youth political organizing removed me from their follower lists over the course of several weeks. Some put *noticeable* distance  between themselves and me … one person continued to deny Israeli statehood to a follower list of over 2,000 people for a couple days after I relayed my experiences.”

A group of students responded to a Jew with hostility after they shared their experience with antisemitism. Days later, like clockwork, they began posting condemnations of Israel on their social media pages, as if to appease the gnawing guilt on their conscience that treating this person differently was wrong.  It became acceptable to treat this Jew abhorrently, because, “Look at what Israel is doing to the Palestinians!” This is a scenario that many Jewish young people, including myself, can describe in perfect detail. And unfortunately for many of us who have witnessed it first hand, the lesson learned is to keep your mouth shut going forward—which is exactly what is being asked of us by so-called anti-racists.

This summer, the Chancellor of Rutgers University released a statement condemning the rise in anti-Jewish violence that was a symbiotic consequence of Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls. After outrage from left-wing students, a second letter was released, in which the chancellor apologized for “failing to communicate support for our Palestinian community members.” The same week, I was scheduled to host a lecture on antisemitism at a local high school during an educational program on intolerance and racism. Though the panel had been organized and finalized in January, I received a text the morning of the event notifying me that it had been scrapped, with the administration citing concerns of “timing.” The other panels, it’s worth noting, carried on as planned.

Or consider April Powers, the Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer for The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Editors. After releasing a statement on the organization’s Facebook page condemning the antisemitic attacks seen across the country this summer, writing, “The SCBWI unequivocally recognizes that the world’s 14.7 million Jewish people (less than 0.018% of the population) have the right to life, safety, and freedom from scapegoating and fear,” Powers resigned from her position. In a series of online attacks against Powers and the SCBWI, one member posted: “I had no idea this was a Zionist/politically motivated organization that doesn’t serve all children.”

If you’re still not convinced, view the Twitter account of comedian and former Bernie Sanders surrogate Amer Zahr, who made headlines in May for saying to his thousands of followers: “This is a message to all the activists and leaders out there that are condemning antisemitism and condemning terrorism right now. Stop it. Stop. You are not helping alright… You are playing their games… It’s a distraction.”

In all scenarios, Israel was used as an excuse, a justification for failing to address Jew hatred, and by extension, a reason to resent the Jewish people even more. Which policies of Israel were criticized? Which legislation in the Knesset was harpooned as problematic? Not one.

When antisemitic violence erupts on the streets of American cities, as it did in December of 2019 when there was no Israeli military operation, there are no hashtags. When Jews are stabbed in broad daylight, miles away from Israel, there are no statements from progressive organizations—certainly not those who operate on college campuses. In the summer of 2021, not only did left-wing politicians stoke hatred by spreading mendacious conspiracy theories about the State of Israel, but also they were unable to condemn antisemitism unequivocally, and insisted on adding a condemnation of islamophobia for good measure. When Jewish Democrats finally mustered the courage to raise the issue of double standards against Israel in Congress, they were accused of “not being partners in justice” by Rep. Ilhan Omar, which simply implies that they are not real members of the left.

All of this is a consequence of Jewish needs falling out of favor with progressive values.

I don’t blame young people, not even Jewish young people, for feeling nervous when called to defend Jews. I am never surprised when I see countless more adult faces at a rally against antisemitism than I do young faces. The Jewish question has once again become toxic, a direct consequence of left-wing identity politics. One generation is carrying that banner louder and prouder than all others. When standing up to antisemitism becomes a political risk, the soil of our once Golden Diaspora is fertilized with the tears of our less fortunate ancestors.

Blake Flayton is a Jewish student activist and the co-founder of New Zionist Congress.